


miraculous

by softkaz



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: 2 cute 2 b true, Birds, M/M, birthday kisses, kissing in the dark, the gangsey bein all cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-04
Updated: 2016-03-04
Packaged: 2018-05-24 16:49:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6160156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softkaz/pseuds/softkaz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Adam Parrish's birthday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	miraculous

**Author's Note:**

> aaaaaa ok so this was written for Estrella aka lostgansey on tumblr 4 her birthday that i wrote ages ago and posted on tumblr but i thought id finally start posting stuff here as well so!!!!! hello!!!!!!!!

It was one of the greatest nights in Adam Parrish’s life.

Miraculously, his birthday had fallen on a day where he didn’t have work. Miraculously, he had people to spend it with. Miraculously, these people loved him as much as he loved them.

Needless to say, for once in his life, Adam felt lucky, and happy, and _alive_.

They were at Nino's, and Ronan was sitting across from him at the booth. All evening, his lips had been curled into a private, if not a little shy, smile and Adam couldn't help but notice the way Ronan was looking at him. To be fair, Adam kept stealing glances at him, too; it was hard not to. Ronan looked _happy_ , and something about him, the way he was sitting, his hand thrown carelessly around the back of the chair, his head cocked to the side, his eyes glittering- it took Adam's breath away.

Inevitably, their gazes kept meeting, and each time Ronan's smile would lift a little more. Even those simple, stolen moments felt like a dream.

If it had been another night, he would have been up at the garage or doing homework or trying in vain to fall asleep in his cold, empty apartment. But not tonight. Tonight, there was something light in the air that made it easy to breathe and laugh and pretend everything in his life was okay.

Blue nudged him with her elbow. She had put her hair up with lots of mismatched hair clips for the occasion, and she looked radiant. “Is your birthday a happy one so far?" she asked, grinning.

As an answer, he said, “Thank you.” Blue nodded and leaned against him for a moment. “For you, Adam," she said. "Anything.”

Suddenly, Noah turned away from his slow, unhurried conversation with Gansey and yelled, “The cake is here!” in delight.

It was a simple thing, since Adam had had a strict talk with Gansey and Ronan about the limits on size and extravagance of the cake, and, best of all, it was  _his_ simple thing. The candles flickered and winked at him as the waitress carried it slowly towards their table. Noah clapped when she set it down. They all thanked her, then turned back to Adam.

Ronan took a deep, dramatic breath and,  “Squash one, squad two, squash-”

The table exploded in laughter, and Adam leaned over and punched him playfully in the arm. They laughed again, and it was so _easy_. That night, it came right alongside breathing.

Gansey wiped at his eyes. He was wearing a pair of light wash jeans and a white t-shirt instead of his usual attire (it was his present for Adam’s birthday to dress normally for a change). "Ok, but for real. Adam Parrish, I wish you the happiest of birthdays. I hope it is as lovely as you.“ 

Blue groaned, and Ronan said, "Stop _flirting_ with him."

Everyone laughed again. Noah said, “Are we gonna sing for real, or not?"

Ronan scowled mockingly, but then they all started singing. Adam rolled his eyes and pretended to be embarrassed, but he couldn't stop smiling. He couldn't tell them how happy he was. No one had ever sung him a happy birthday before. He had never _had_ a happy birthday before.

They ate cake and drank milkshakes and laughed until they couldn’t laugh any more. And then they laughed some more. They felt so _light_.

* * *

Finally, the last of Nino’s customers started filling out. Gansey, who never slept, kept having to stifle his yawns. Blue was half-asleep against Noah’s shoulder.

“We should get going,” Adam said, because he felt like it was the right thing to say. He was tired himself, but he really didn’t want to go. He didn't want to have to return to his small apartment and fall asleep in his small bed and wake up the next day to his small world that consisted of working and worrying. He wanted this night to last.

Ronan met his gaze (again), and something in his eyes made Adam think he was feeling the same thing, though he didn’t say anything.

Gansey took off his glasses and wiped at his eyes. “I guess we should leave, yeah.” He looked at Blue and smiled. “We gotta drop you off, Jane.” Blue opened one eye and sighed. Noah laughed and put his arm around her as they got out of the booth.

Adam stopped them suddenly, and cleared his throat. They turned to look at him, all of them turned dusty and soft by the florescent lights of the diner.

“Thank you again,” he said. “For everything.” He made himself meet their eyes.

“Adam, it’s your birthday. Don’t be silly.”

Adam bowed his head. He wasn’t being silly. He just couldn’t believe it. He felt like- like he didn’t deserve it. He was _Adam Parrish_. A broken mess of a boy. His birthdays were nothing special. Just another day. They didn't change who he was.

He felt Ronan move up to him, felt him put a finger under Adam's chin and lift his head. “Come on, Parrish," he said, "don’t go all sappy on us." 

Adam shook his head and laughed, and Ronan released his chin, grinning, then put a hand around his shoulders.

They came out of the diner, the night air, heavy with exhaust and summer, filling their noses. 

The stars were high and bright. Gansey walked over to the Camaro and unlocked it. He opened the back door for Noah and the boy climbed in, stopping to kiss Gansey's cheek.  Blue called shotgun and smirked at Ronan.

Ronan, however, wasn’t looking at her. Adam felt his gaze on him acutely, like it was a tangible thing. He still had an arm around Adam's shoulders. “That’s okay, Maggot," he said. "Parrish and I actually have different plans.”

“We do?” Adam asked, at the same time that Gansey and Blue said, “You do?”

Ronan had let go of Adam's shoulders and was already stalking towards his BMW. “We do. Come on, Parrish.”

Adam grinned, despite himself. He made himself stop. It didn't work.

He walked over and hugged Blue, and Noah, who had gotten out of the car again to say goodbye, and then fist-bumped Gansey. The boy smiled at him. “Before you say anything else, don’t. I hope you had a good night, Adam."

Gansey. His beautiful, kind, crazy best friend. Adam felt his heart in his throat, but simply nodded, and turned. “I guess I have to go, then.”

He looked over at Ronan, on the other side of the empty parking lot. He was staring in their direction.

Adam cleared his throat. “Yeah. Um. Good night, guys.”

Noah caught at his arm while he was turning away, and Adam was surprised at his serious expression. “Listen to him, Adam, please.”

Adam’s heart did a funny little jump in his chest. He ignored it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but okay.” He hugged the other boy again. “Thanks, Noah.”

Noah nodded, his bright smile back in place, winked, then climbed back into the car, along with the others. Adam stood back and watched as the Camaro's engine groaned, and the car disappeared into the night. Then he turned and walked towards the BMW, which seemed to glow like a beacon in the dark. Or maybe that was just Ronan.

“You’ll see them tomorrow, you know,” Ronan said as Adam approached. He turned and climbed into the driver’s seat. Adam got on in his side.

Inside, the car was somehow eerily quiet. He decided to ignore Ronan’s quip, and asked instead, “Where are we going?”

Ronan turned and gave him a small smile. “Home,” he said.

* * *

The Barns were, as always, fast asleep, and it was contagious. Even just walking along the path towards the house, listening to the slow wind made Adam sleepy as well. He felt like curling up on the grass and falling asleep, despite the slight chill that hung around in the air. Maybe that way, he thought, he could make the night last forever.

Ronan walked quickly ahead of him. He was no more than a shadow in his all-black attire, and yet, he held a certain contrast to the dark of the night. His darkness seemed tangible, somehow, at least to Adam. He couldn’t explain it.

Ronan opened the door for them, and they slipped inside and up the stairs in a second. Adam didn’t really know what they were doing here, but he felt like asking would ruin the magic. Because there certainly was magic between them now, real and solid and crackling with energy. It wasn’t like Cabeswater’s magic or the magic of Ronan’s dreams. It was the kind of magic that existed in the moments between breaths, the kind that always seemed to linger between the two of them.

 Adam was both exhilarated and terrified of it.

“This is my room,” Ronan said as they stopped in the hallway on the second floor. He swung open the door and turned to face Adam. They were, suddenly, impossibly close. Adam wondered if Ronan felt the swift change of tension in the air.

“Okay,” Adam said, quietly. They went inside.

“Don’t turn on the lights,” Ronan whispered. “It’s not good for her eyes.”

Adam stopped. “ _Her_ eyes? Who's? Did you bring me here to see a _girl_?”

The other boy laughed quietly. “Shut up and come over here.”

Adam did.

They knelt beside Ronan’s bed, facing the window. There was a cardboard box on the floor, lined with a big, puffy blanket. Ronan reached towards the box and that’s when whatever was in the box made a noise. A noise that Adam recognized. It was the same type of noise Chainsaw used to make when she was little and wanted their attention.

“Ronan,” Adam gasped. The other boy now held a small black raven in the palms of his hands. He didn’t take his eyes of it.

“I dreamt her up this morning. She’s born on the same day as you.” His voice was soft, his body a gentle curve in the dark.

“But-”

 “You say you don’t want gifts that are bought with money.” Ronan looked up at him. “So I’m giving you a life. I’ll look after her and everything, and that way Chainsaw won’t be alone all the time. But, you know. This is my gift to you as well. Technically, she's yours."

Adam didn’t know what to say. _A life_. A life cost more than anything. He looked from Ronan to the bird.

Finally, “Can I hold her?”

Ronan looked at him. His eyes were wide. “Of- yes, of course.”

The little bird felt impossibly light in his hands, just like he had earlier that night. Like he felt now. His hands shook a little. _A life._

“What’s her name?” He touched the bid's soft feathers as gently as he could, and it shivered in his hands. 

_A life._

“Whatever you want it to be.”

Adam said, “I don’t know. How about ‘Drill’?”

Ronan laughed. “That’s terrible. Chainsaw and Drill.” He paused. “I love it.”

There was silence, then, for a moment. They kept staring at each other. The little bird squawked.

“She’s hungry,” Adam said.

“I fed her not too long ago. She’s just tired.”

“Okay.” Adam put Drill back gently in her box and sat back, watching as she sat between the folds of the blanket. 

He closed his eyes, and leaned back against Ronan's bed. “I don’t want this day to end.”

Ronan looked at his watch, and let out a soft breath of laughter. “Right now it’s 11:58. Last two minutes of your big day.” He nudged Adam. “Make a wish, magician.”

His voice shook, a little. “I wish I always felt like this.”

Ronan held his breath. “Like what?”

“Invincible? I don't know.” Adam opened his eyes.

Ronan was looking at his watch again. “11:59.”

Adam watched him as he spoke, his words tumbling over each other. “I wish things were simpler. I wish things made sense. I wish I understood. I don't know. Your turn.”

“I wish all those things as well, Parrish.” He paused. Then, “There we go. Midnight. Happy not-your-birthday day.”

Adam laughed. “You too.”

They fell silent for a moment. Drill seemed to have fallen asleep.

“Did you enjoy your birthday, then?” Ronan was looking at him with a kind of wavering balance. 

“It was perfect.” Adam said, meeting his eyes.

“Nothing was missing?”

Adam thought about it. He thought about Ronan’s stare at dinner. He thought about Noah’s words. He thought about the tiny little raven he shared a birthday with. He thought about every single time he had stood alongside Ronan and ached for something more.

His heart was racing. “Can I have one more wish?”

He watched as Ronan swallowed, and laughed, shakily. “Depends what it is.”

“It only costs a breath,” Adam said. And then he leaned in.

The space between them disappeared in a second, and then suddenly they were kissing, softly, questioningly, _a_ silent _Is this okay?_  with every move. Ronan's hands were in his hair, on the back of his neck. He had his fist tangled in the front of Ronan's shirt, his pulse thrumming against his skin, a wild frenzy, unlike his movements. Everything was slow, and quiet, like they couldn't believe it, like they were scared it would go away. At some point, Ronan smiled into the kiss, and Adam felt lightness and warmth spill over him, immediate, tangible. 

Ronan pulled away first, only to lean his forehead against Adam's. His eyes were blown and wide, impossibly wide. He was breathing hard.  “Happy not-your-birthday day, Adam Parrish.”

Adam kissed him again. He felt invincible.

Everything about this night had been miraculous.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope u enjoyed!! ~ hit me up on tumblr @ softkaz!!


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